The Grand Canyon

It was fitting that we left  Las Vegas, the city of man made monuments, towers and pools for the Grand Canyon, which makes Las Vegas look like a strip mall.Pulling into the park around 6pm we got to make our first look at the canyon right around sunset: absolutely beautiful.  A person can think that seeing pictures or maps or descriptions of the Grand Canyon would lessen the first impression it casts.  It doesn't.

The next day, we geared up, filled our camelbacks with water, and started on a trail that leads down to the base of the canyon.  To go all the way to the bottom takes all day, and it takes another full day to trek back up.  Thats our excuse for only going 1/3 of the way down to the first station 1300 feet down the canyon.  The trail was beautiful and every so often we had to make way for the mule teams making their trek up the canyon.

Mule: part horse, part donkey, all muscle

level view from 1/3 down

After the grueling trek back up to the top of the canyon, we were sore and thirsty and enjoyed some ice cream with all throngs of tourists who came to visit.  Enjoying the warm evening (see californians..  it does stay warm in evenings in the rest of the country) Hoa and I took in dinner at the main lodge which has been serving tourists since before 1920.  Then the reality of our march up the canyon set in and we retired to rest weary muscles